Ed Smith

Ed Smith’s music career as a vibraphonist and percussionist spans more than 30 years. He has performed with distinguished artists such as John Cage, Phil Wilson, Glen Velez, Trichy Sankaran, Nyoman Wenten, Steve Houghton, Greg Bissonette and Ed Soph, among others.

In 1992, he helped form the internationally recognized world percussion group D’Drum, which won an award for runner-up Best Percussion Ensemble in Drum Magazine’s 2002 reader’s poll. The group recorded the soundtrack for the National Geographic film “Lions of Darkness” and performed in Hong Kong as part of a modern Chinese presentation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” A PBS short film about the group and their world travels won an Emmy in 1999. The group’s first CD, “Village Besides Time,” is critically acclaimed and its newest CD, “Within You Without You,” was released in the spring of 2006.

Mr. Smith has been traveling to Bali, Indonesia, since 1995 to study the music of the shadow puppet play on the gender wayang instrument. While there in 1998, he was afforded the honor of performing in a temple celebration. He also performs with the cross-cultural jazz-fusion group Brahmah, which also features world-renowned musicians Poovalur Sriji, Jamal Mohamed and Fred Hamilton. Their CD was released in 2005.